Guillou Leads Record-Breaking Winamax Poker Open
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Another year, another record. The phenomenon that is the Winamax Poker Open has shown once again its ability to draw players from France and all over Europe to the Irish capital and the Citywest hotel for one of the largest six-max festivals in the world.
A little over four months since Winamax hosted the largest six-max tournament of all time, they set a new WPO record of 1,389 players, surpassing the record of 1,191 set in 2018.
Recap Day 1b Winamax Poker Open
Day 1b accounted for 829 of them, with 360 in Day 1a and 200 in the Turbo Day 1c. At the end of Day 1b, just 161 players remained.
They are lead by Jeremy Etot who won a big hand towards the end of the day after backdooring a straight to send an opponent holding pocket aces to the rail. That saw him over 500,000 and by the end he had moved above 700,000, bagging 736,000.
Behind him comes Elisha Benguigui (700,000) and Loic Daspres (606,000) who are the only players above 600,000 chips.
Just one Winamax Team Pro made it through from Day 1a in the shape of former champion Pierre Calamusa, but several more punched their tickets into Day 2 today.
Birthday boy Davidi Kitai, who celebrated his 40th birthday at the stroke of midnight, will be hoping it is a birthday to remember when play resumes at noon having bagged the most (231,000) of his fellow Team Pros. He will be joined by Gaelle Baumann (124,000), Ivan Deyra (219,000), Davidi Kitai, Leo Margets (127,000) and Aladin Reskallah (149,000).
2018 High Roller champion Peter Jaksland (94,000), Fraser Macintyre (236,000) and High Roller final tablist Gabor Szabo (175,000) will also be in the Day 2 field along with former WSOP Main Event runner-up Tony Miles (325,000), who cracked pocket kings with ace-queen in one of the last hands of the night to bag ahead of Day 2.
Notables who failed to make it through include High Roller champion Jason Tompkins, Adrian Mateos, Romain Lewis, Dara O'Kearney, and Andy Black.
Recap Day 1c Winamax Poker Open
The final flight of the Winamax Poker Open Main Event gathered 200 entries, and by the end of it, just forty players remained.
It was a familiar one topping the chip counts. Philippe Guillou (lead photo) finished third in the High Roller earlier this week, taking home €20,730. He bagged up not just the Day 1c chip lead but will be the man to beat when play resumes at noon local time as he holds the overall lead as well.
Behind him comes Samuel Bovy (647,000) and then there is a big gap back to Darragh O'Sullivan (480,000), Marko Duric (450,000), and Bastien Laffeter (445,000).
There will be two more Winamax Team Pros in the field, bringing the total to nine. Adrian Mateos (167,000) and Guillaume Diaz (135,000) will be hoping to chip up soon and add another cash to their poker resumes.
Irish player Kevin Killeen (324,000) has over $1m in lifetime earnings but has never cashed a Winamax Poker Open Main Event here in Dublin. He will be looking to for that first cash having bagged a healthy 324,000.
There will be 266 players on Day 2 from a field of 1,389, with the bubble expected to burst midway through the day. Stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you Winamax Poker Open Dublin live updates
Winamax Poker Open Dublin Main Event Field Size Throughout the Years
| Year | Field Size | Year | Field Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1,389 | 2014 | 994 |
| 2018 | 1,191 | 2013 | 1,086 |
| 2017 | 1,069 | 2012 | 818 |
| 2016 | 978 | 2011 | 656 |
| 2015 | 959 | 2010 | 313 |
Winamax Poker Open Dublin Main Event Top 5 Chip Counts Heading Into Day 2
| Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| Philippe Guillou | France | 764,000 |
| George Stoddart | Ireland | 750,000 |
| Erik Oelschlegel | France | 739,000 |
| Jeremy Etot | France | 736,000 |
| Elisha Benguigui | France |
Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.
